How to Properly Pet a Cat
by brilliant star
Summary: Ten different instances in which Maki is the first one to initiate physical contact and/or affection.


**1\. **

The heat is unbearable, and even Umi is lethargic in her movements today. The girls scramble for any bit of shade they can find, groaning when they find their bottles of water hadn't managed to stay cold while they were practicing.

Maki sits down beside Rin and leans against her without a word.

"Hehe, even Maki-chan is tired today, huh?" Rin gently pats Maki's leg and takes a generous swig of water.

"Be quiet," Maki mumbles, letting out a long, relaxed exhale. "I'm resting."

Eli and Umi agree that a few extra minutes of rest wouldn't hurt (and they've gotta stave off heatstroke). Honoka is pouring water on herself, splashing some on Nico to the latter's displeasure, and Hanayo is huddled over a rice ball. Nozomi and Kotori quietly chat by the edge of the roof. Rin hums their newest song beneath her breath, warm and lazy, and Maki slowly dozes off to the tune with her head still resting on Rin's shoulder.

**2.**

"_There_ you are!"

Maki weaves through a thinning crowd to snatch Rin's warm, sweaty hand in her own without a second thought. Her other hand delivers a swift chop to the smaller girl's head.

"Nya-! That one hurt!"

"That's what you get for running off by yourself! Seriously, we're supposed to at least stay in pairs. That was the plan, remember?" Maki sighs with exasperation, now pulling Rin along. The amusement park was always at its busiest in the apex of summer, which was precisely why Maki had suggested, sarcastically and jokingly, to keep Rin (and maybe Honoka and Nico too) on a leash to avoid losing her in the crowds.

But that would've been too weird. So.

"We're already in a pair now, right? Then let's go on a few rides together, Maki-chan!"

Before she can protest, Maki suddenly finds herself being the one dragged, their fingers still interlaced together.

"Wh— hey! Let go! We're supposed to find the others!"

"Aww, just one ride's not gonna hurt you! Besides, you're the one who grabbed Rin's hand first." She glances over her shoulder at Maki with a coy smile, and Maki can't think of any retort to throw back.

**3.**

There's barbecue sauce all over Rin's face. That much isn't a surprise. What _is _a surprise is when Maki grabs Rin's arm to keep her still and begins to rub at her face with a napkin, instead of leaving the job to Hanayo (who's completely used to doing that sort of thing for Rin).

"Learn how to use your utensils, come on," Maki sucks her teeth, dipping the napkin in Nico's glass of water ("Hey! Use your own water, jeez!") and dabs at Rin's nose.

"N-nya! Maki-chan, you're tickling me!" Rin's face scrunches up and she giggles, trying to tilt her head away.

"You eat like a little kid! Have some class, for once!"

"Maki-chaaan, you're dripping water down my shirt!"

"That's your own fault for being so messy in the first place! And— how'd you even manage to get sauce on your neck?!"

"It's a mystery!"

Nozomi rests her chin on her hand and watches them with a little smile from across the table, setting down her fork. Nico gives her a sidelong glance after pulling her glass of water out of Maki's reach.

"You're getting some weird ideas in your head, aren't you."

"Who knows~"

**4.**

"You could've asked Hanayo for help, instead of me. Or even Nico-chan. I'm sure she knows more about this sort of thing than I do." Maki slightly frowns in concentration, gently tilting Rin's face up with a finger beneath her chin. Rin gulps and smiles nervously, eyes focused to the side instead of forward.

"W-well, you were the first one who came to Rin's mind, and..."

Even Maki can't hold back a small laugh. She reaches for the lip gloss, examining its color before shaking her head and grabbing another one. "An online tutorial would've been just as helpful."

"I don't wanna do it myself! What if I mess up?! That's why I came to Maki-chan in the first place!"

"You rarely see _me _wearing makeup, though. I don't see why you need to, either. You're already really cute as you are."

Both their faces turn varying shades of red and Maki coughs, pulling her hand away and pretending to be suddenly _very _interested in the tiny print on the back of the lip gloss. "I-I mean... it could be fun, I guess. Just— just forget what I said! Hold still! And don't talk!"

Maki ends up smearing the lip gloss over a third of Rin's face despite both their best efforts combined.

**5.**

"Maki-chan!" Rin is speeding towards Maki, waving a piece of paper so vigorously it's getting crumpled.

Maki tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and doesn't bother looking up. "What is it now, Rin?"

"Look, look! I got an _eighty one_ on my math test!" Rin plops herself down beside Maki and shoves the paper at other girl, who recoils and tries to push it away. No luck. Maki makes an annoyed sound and finally looks at Rin, who's smiling so brightly Maki can't even be seriously mad.

"... An eighty one, huh?" Maki allows herself a small laugh, getting a proper look at the paper. Rin's work is sloppy and a lot of numbers had been crossed out, but there are considerably less red marks than there usually is. "Good job."

She isn't sure what else to do here, so she pats Rin's head a little awkwardly. Rin's smile grows even brighter, as if it was even possible, and she leans in, the gesture reminiscent of a dog (or cat) asking for more pats. "Thanks, Maki-chan! I really studied lots this time! This is the highest grade Rin's gotten all year, nya!"

"Keep it up, and maybe you'll break ninety next time," Maki continues to rub Rin's head, a rare affectionate gesture from her end.

"Ninety?! That's impossible!"

"Where'd your usual optimism go? You just have to study even harder for the next test."

"Noooo! No more studying!"

Maki tugs at Rin's hair, drawing a yelp from the smaller girl, yet Rin doesn't try to move away. That alone is enough of a cause for laughter, and Maki resumes patting her head.

**6.**

Maki checks her phone, checks it again, idly looks through a nearby rack of clothes, and finally loses her patience and raps her knuckles against the door. "Rin, are you done trying on the dress yet? Hanayo's waiting for us at the food court. Hurry up."

"J-just another minute, or, um—"

"Rin."

"... Nya."

Silence. She can hear some rustling behind the door, then a small thump as if Rin had stumbled against a wall. Oh, so that's it. "...If you need help, you could just tell me."

"That, that's not it! Haha, Maki-chan, don't be so silly!"

"_Rin_..."

More silence, a pause longer than the first one, and the door slowly opens. Rin shyly peers out, avoiding eye contact. Maki impatiently pushes her way inside, ignoring Rin's frantic pleas to wait, and shuts the door behind them. The thought of being crammed into a small room meant for one with Rin (who's in her underwear) doesn't even cross Maki's mind, and she immediately sets to work.

"Step over here— raise your arm. Yeah, okay, lift your other arm. Can you turn around now?" Her hands brush over Rin's bare skin, and for a split second her breath catches, but Maki forces herself to swallow the lump in her throat and she reaches for Rin's lower back. Rin, for once, seems to be the more flustered of the two, quietly staring down at the floor the whole time as Maki pulls the zipper up.

"There, done. See? The dress might seem complicated, but it's just a matter of knowing where to tie the sash." Gripping Rin's shoulders, Maki turns her to face the mirror, smoothing out the fabric over her waist without a second thought. But then the thought catches up to her hardly a second later and Maki's face turns as red as Rin's, and she stammers out something about buying the dress. Rin sort of nods, unable to ignore those hands still on her waist.

Meanwhile, Hanayo had already eaten four bowls of rice while she was waiting for them.

**7.**

"Rin, get back here! Sit! Lie down! _Stay!_" she practically shoves Rin down on the towel spread on the sand, quickly sitting on her lower back before she can get up. Rin yowls, struggling beneath Maki.

"Lemme go! I wanna go play in the water!"

In response, Maki slaps a palmful of sunscreen on Rin's back. She shrieks from the sudden cold contact and writhes, but Maki has her firmly trapped. "The last time you forgot to put on sunscreen you were completely burned all over at the end of the day. Remember how you were complaining the entire way home? I'm not dealing with that nonsense again."

"M-Maki-chan, it, it tickles! And kinda hurts, too! Nyaaaa!" Rin wails, limbs flailing, as Maki roughly rubs the sunscreen on her.

Not far away, Eli and Kotori try their best to ignore the commotion as they lounge beneath an umbrella. Kotori coughs, pointedly looking in the other direction.

"Maki-chan _does _have a point, but I can't help but feel a little sorry for Rin-chan. You know?"

Eli, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have any qualms about watching Maki slap more sunscreen on Rin (though she does wince now and then). "It's for her own good, Kotori. It's for her own good..."

**8.**

"Hey, wake up. Our ride is here."

It's far too late (or early, since it's technically morning now) to be out on a school night, but here they are. Everyone had lost track of the time after the show, and the group had slowly dispersed as the hours dragged on until they'd all gone their separate ways. Maki offers an apologetic wave to her mother, who she had called to come pick them up, and nudges Rin.

"Rin!" Nudging isn't going to do anything, apparently. So instead, she vigorously shakes the other girl.

Still nothing, except a sleepy murmur. For a split second, in a moment of cranky sleep deprivation, Maki considers leaving Rin on the bench but the idea makes her recoil. As if to compensate for even thinking of it, she awkwardly scoops Rin up in her arms instead of smacking her awake, staggering to the car. Maki's mother gets out to open the passenger door for them, chuckling behind her hand.

"Do you need any help, dear? You're stumbling."

"I-I'm _fine_, Mama. Rin is always troublesome like this." Maki carefully lowers Rin in the car before climbing in herself, instinctively wrapping an arm around her to stop her from falling sideways against the opposite door.

"But you're smiling, you know," her mother closes the door before Maki can get a chance to respond. Maki tries to avoid meeting her mother's gaze in the rearview mirror, clutching Rin. It's unfair, that's what it is. And it's Rin's fault for eating so much candy and crashing later.

_But_, Maki dimly thinks to herself as she slowly succumbs to her sleepiness, _Rin looks so happy, even while she's fast asleep_.

**9.**

Rin's all sorts of surprised when she finds out the person who had draped themselves over her back without warning is, in fact, not her dear friend Kayo-chin nor her other dear friend Honoka-chan.

She's still struggling to process what exactly is going on as Maki proceeds to talk about something... something about how she's stuck on the new song she's trying to compose, and how Nico won't stop bugging her in the music room. Maki doesn't seem to care much about Rin's personal bubble at the moment (is it opposite day, or what?), her chin resting on the top of Rin's head and her arms splayed on her shoulders. Rin can feel the rising and falling of the other girl's chest against her back. It's warm.

"You sure sound stressed. Have some food, Maki-chan!" Rin plucks a cherry tomato from her bento with her chopsticks and holds it up for Maki, still somewhat bemused.

"I'm surprised you were even listening to me," Maki grumbles, though she does crane her neck forward to take the offering. "...Thanks, though."

"Don't mention it! You can always come to Rin with your troubles! But, Maki-chan..." Rin fidgets a bit.

"What is it?"

"Y-you're kinda heavy... Rin is being crushed, nyaa!"

"Well— you do this to me all the time! You have no room to complain!" Maki only leans forward more with her full weight plus more, now pinching Rin's cheeks. Rin mewls in pain and tries to keep her lunch from falling off her lap, and herself from falling off the bench.

They both still wind up on the ground though.

**10.**

They aren't standing in a romantic rainstorm at night, there is no waterway with the setting sun casting beautiful reflections, and the cherry blossoms aren't even in bloom for the occasion. No, they're sitting on the floor in Rin's room with their backs against the bed, papers sprawled around them and Rin's head nodding over an open textbook on her lap.

Her eyelids flutter in her vain efforts to stay awake, and she pulls in sharp little inhales now and then. Maki, who had been quietly dwelling on her thoughts and reading the same page in her own book over and over again for the past ten minutes, finally decides it's now or never.

She closes the textbook, places it on the floor beside her, and ducks in to softly kiss Rin on the cheek.

That's about it. Rin blinks once, twice, slowly emerging back into the world of consciousness, and gives Maki a confused look before her mouth splits in a wide, happy grin. Maki smiles too, relief quietly settling in her quivering heart. They don't even need to say anything. Even Rin knows better than to break the moment with a dumb joke.

They kiss again, and Maki has to chop Rin on the head when she won't pull away so they can return to studying.

* * *

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**A/N: **Honestly all I want is Maki and Rin being stupidly affectionate to each other with Maki being so used to Rin being touchy feely she starts picking up her dumb girlfriend's habits unintentionally then tsuns when she realizes what she's doing. Leave me weeping on this tiny little ship, thanks.

(the last one was supposed to be a confession if it wasn't clear enough. I like the idea of Rin being noisy about declaring her feelings, but something quiet and nondescript is cute too imo)


End file.
